Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Makes supplemental appropriation of $400,000 to City of Trenton for establishment and operation of Locust Hill African Cemetery Museum as independent nonprofit.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Supplement to the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, P.L.2022, c.49.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In addition to the amounts appropriated under P.L.2022, c.49, the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, there is appropriated from the Property Tax Relief Fund the following amount for the purpose specified:
22 DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
70 Government, Management, and Control
75 State Subsidies and Financial Aid
STATE AID
04-8030 Local Government Services ................................... $400,000
Total State Aid appropriation,
State Subsidies and Financial Aid ...................... $400,000
State Aid:
04 City of Trenton - Locust Hill African Cemetery Museum…… ($400,000)
The amount hereinabove appropriated for City of Trenton - Locust Hill African Cemetery Museum shall be utilized to renovate and provide for the operation of the property located at 73 Hart Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey as the Locust Hill African Cemetery Museum, which shall be established as an independent, nonprofit organization operated by a board of directors, and which shall oversee the operations of the museum and cemetery. The City of Trenton may allocate up to 20 percent of the amount hereinabove appropriated to pay for legal and administrative costs related to the incorporation and establishment of the independent nonprofit, and shall provide the remainder of the appropriation to the nonprofit as a grant to the nonprofit following establishment of the nonprofit.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides a supplemental appropriation of $400,000 to the City of Trenton for the purpose of renovating, establishing, and operating the property located at 73 Hart Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey as the Locust Hill African Cemetery Museum, which is to be an independent, non-profit organization operated by a board of directors, and which is to oversee the operations of the museum and cemetery.
The museum is to oversee the Locust Hill Cemetery, where a cemetery was organized, funded, and built by Trenton's nineteenth century African American community during the Reconstruction Period, and where United States Colored Troops, who were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War, are buried. It is important to preserve and celebrate the history of this community, and to honor New Jersey’s proud history of military service and the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for the United States.